


living a dream

by PerfectSilence (hitomishiga)



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, but ultimately non-canon, chikanan is in the bg and arguably unimportant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 04:31:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8314057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hitomishiga/pseuds/PerfectSilence
Summary: Chika and Dia have a long overdue conversation about things, and Chika discovers her own feelings.





	

**Author's Note:**

> hi i woke up this morning with chikanan in my heart and chikadia in my soul

"Ok everyone! Time for a break!”

Dia claps as she calls for a time out, her voice powerful and commanding. The first years slump in relief and collapse to the floor almost instantly, and Chika watches with amusement as Riko hands them all a bottle of water with a gentle smile. A real motherly figure.

Chika would have joined them, but for some reason she finds her attention drawn to Kanan and Mari, who hang around the edge of the roof, out of earshot but close enough for Chika to see the smiles on both their faces. Kanan rests her elbows against the rails and looks out almost wistfully to the sea. In the afternoon sun, she looks beautiful. Effortlessly so. The angelic look on her face sends Chika’s soul to heaven and back.

Dia nudges Chika’s arm with something cool. A bottle of water. With a thanks, Chika takes it and unscrews the top, but her mind is still wandering far away from her body. She doesn’t even register the sweat beading on her forehead.

“You ok, Chika-san?” Dia asks, once she’s regained her breath. Chika startles and waves her arms about.

“No, no, I’m fine!” She says. “I’m just… Thinking.”

“I can see that.”

Chika gives Dia a half hearted little glare (something, she muses, she never would have dreamed of doing before) but hums in agreement.

“About Kanan-chan.” She continues, and takes a rather long drink from her bottle. Dia, to her credit, waits patiently. She must be pretty good at waiting by now, Chika thinks. A master of patience. Maybe not discipline or self care, but definitely, deep down, patience.

She waited for two whole years. That’s commendable.

Chika sighs and rocks back on her heels. Kanan laughs at something, throwing her head back in unrestrained elation. “I don’t think I’ve seen her laugh like that in… Like, _two years_ ,” Chika says, and feels Dia’s curious gaze settle on her, unreadable. “We’ve been friends for years. For - for all my life, but… I didn’t even realise she was hurting so much…”

In elementary school, Chika and Kanan were close. Chika and Yō were close too, maybe closer. But Chika and Kanan had a very special sort of friendship. Of course, middle school came around and Kanan grew up and Chika did too, and maybe she regrets those years spent growing apart but when she looks at Kanan now, she’s filled with immense pride at the kind of people they’ve become, on their own.

“Only now, I’m realising how much I really didn’t know about her." Chika says, looking down. Regret. “You and Mari-san probably know her more than I do, haha…”

Dia cocks her head and frowns. “Don’t sell yourself short, Chika-san. You’ve been friends since birth, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Then I’m sure she returns your feelings.”

Chika gives Dia a questioning glance, but her eyes are trained elsewhere, cooly. Chika takes another drink and hopes her face isn’t heating up. Is she transparent, or is Dia just perceptive?

Probably the former. Chika is just a simple girl, after all.

“That’s not what I meant…” Chika grumbles. The corner of Dia’s mouth twitches upwards, betraying her aloof exterior.

They watch from the side as the pile of first years claims its first victim - one Sakurauchi Riko, who is pulled down by the combined weight of Yoshiko and Ruby with a little squeal. Yō, standing above them, laughs, wiping tears from her eyes before Riko forcibly drags her down as well. It's a mess. Chika almost expects Dia to be angry, or at least irritated, but when she looks, Dia has the softest, fondest of smiles on her face.

“It’s nothing,” she replies when Chika asks, “it’s nothing. Just - I’ve never seen my sister having this much fun, since…”

They both turn to Kanan and Mari, the latter bent over in laughter, pointing at Yō’s unfortunate demise, while Kanan just grins. She turns, makes eye contact with Chika. It lasts a good three seconds (Chika counts) before Kanan gives her signature little smile and returns to her conversation with Mari.

It quietens off. An evening breeze starts to come in, a bit cold.

“I suppose I should thank you, Chika-san,” says Dia, her voice suddenly solemn and quiet.

“No way!” Chika returns with an emphatic screw of the lid of her bottle. “I should be the one thanking you! If it weren’t for you, You-chan, Riko-chan, and I… We might never have made it this far.”

“Chika-”

“I’m serious!” Chika gives Dia her full attention now, words no longer enough to express her pure an unadulterated gratitude. If Dia flusters, she hides it surprisingly well. “Not only that, but you let Ruby-chan join, despite… Everything… And if it weren’t for her, Hanamaru-chan and Yoshiko-chan…”

Behind her, Yoshiko cries out right on cue. Someone shouts out, ‘ _It’s everywhere! It’s everywhere! Someone get a towel!’_ , and Mari just laughs harder. But Chika can’t bring herself to turn around, not now.

“And…” Chika falls quiet for a bit, fiddling with the lid between her fingers. “I wanted to thank you. For being there for Kanan-chan. Even if she was a bit of a butt.”

“Chika-san, that’s probably not something you should say about her.”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Chika sticks out her tongue. “Seriously though, I’ve been thinking… You and Mari-san brought Kanan-chan’s smile back. And even, even our friendship, too. So, thank you.”

Chika bows low and waits for a painful heartbeat or two before Dia places her hand gently upon Chika’s shoulder.

“Stand up straight, you’re embarrassing.” Dia says, and Chika does so, but is shocked to discover that Dia is not angry or embarrassed at all.

She’s crying.

While Chika flusters and wavers, Dia simply wipes her eyes with a melancholy smile. “I should thank you, Chika-san,” she whispers, “for being persistent. For bringing idols, my sister, my _best friends_ , back into my life. Thank you.”

The urge to just hug Dia right then and there is too strong, but Chika restrains herself. It would feel improper, somehow, and plus, everyone is still there with them. That’s why she’s surprised when Dia initiates a short, but emotional, hug. Chika barely gets the time to return it.

Up there, on the roof under the dying afternoon sun, everything feels right for once. Everything feels good, and Chika feels like she’s living a dream she never wants to end.

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaaaaaaa aaa


End file.
